A bit of the red, white, and blue...

Hello everyone! I've been inspired by all of your patriotic stitching to do a bit of my own this week. First up is "Let Freedom Ring" by Little House Needleworks. I stitched this piece "over one" on 28 ct. Tea Dyed Monaco using the suggested DMC and Crescent colors. I did change the wording to my favorite blue rather than the gold that was charted.



I spent some time on Thursday finishing it off into a little pillow. I'm always a bit surprised at how long it takes to finish something like this--small as it is, it takes me much longer than it should. But, this turned out to be one of my favorite finishes yet. I backed it in the blue and gold fabric shown and added some golden brown cording that my dear husband and I made using my Kreinik Custom Corder.


Heart In Hand's "Olde Glory" was a really quick stitch although this fabric (18 ct. raw cork linen) seemed to be a bit difficult to work on. I do love the way it looks, though with DMC 3865, Sampler Threads Lancaster Red, and Nina's Hand-Dyed Thread in "Old Jeans" (can't say enough how much I love her threads!!).


I added a little golden star for interest and turned it into a small pillow using two different fabrics and a bit of rope-like braided trim. I'm very proud of how it turned out! So, now I have my own little patriotic display in my home that I hope to add a couple of new things to each year. I've included a photo of it at the very bottom of this post. Besides my new additions, the display includes LHN's "America" and the tiniest little Homespun Elegance pin pillow finish that I made last year. You can read about it right here.




I spent last week visiting my parents in NY while my husband was a on a grueling Colorado bike trip. (Are any of your husbands bike riders? I wonder why he puts himself through some of these trips, but it's nice that he has his passion like I have mine for stitching!) Anyway, when I arrived home on Sunday, just look at what was waiting to greet me. And just look at what she'd been feasting on the whole time I was away!! Yes, those "things" sticking up in the left foreground of the photo were my gorgeous green and white hostas with purple flowers before the deer got to them. Oh I was so mad!! She just stood there and looked at me like I was intruding on "her" territory!


But, I couldn't stay mad at her for long when I found out why she was so hungry. The next morning I heard a bleating sound coming from the woods by our pond so I took my camera back to investigate. A little fawn caught a glimpse of me and bounded off deeper into the woods, white tail flying high. Figuring there was no photo opportunity, I just turned around and headed back to the house. When I was almost to the patio, I sensed something behind me, turned, and lo and behold, there was the dearest spotted fawn not more than 20 feet from me. She just stood there looking at me as if she wanted to play.


Now, how could I be mad at her mom for eating my flowers so she could be strong enough to care for her baby? Well, make that babies plural!! Yes, little twin fawns have been having the time of their lives chasing each other through the yard and munching on all of our greenery. But, who can stay upset with those sweet faces? Luckily, our vegetable garden is fenced in so they can't make the tomatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, or zucchini a part of their diets!

No Europe trip photos to show you this time. It takes so long to organize and put a post like that together and time was something I really didn't have much of this week. I haven't picked the winner of the "Watermelon Garden" chart yet either, so if you'd still like to enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on my last post only.

Thank you all for your much-appreciated comments and a warm welcome to my new followers. Wishing all of you in the U.S. a safe and fun Fourth of July weekend...And Happy Canada Day to my wonderful blogging friends up north! I have to work on Saturday, but I'm looking forward to grilling and relaxing on Sunday and Monday--how about you? Bye for now...

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Half-way There!

Hi everyone! Well, I finally reached the half-way point on Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow--Block 6 is finished!! Although this was a block of almost solid stitching, I think it is my favorite one so far. I never got bored with it because there were so many little motifs scattered about to keep things fresh. Don't you love the bonfire and that rustic log cabin perched on the hillside. But, just what is that creature lurking on top of the bridge with his fiery yellow eye? I think he's supposed to be a reindeer, but, he looks pretty ominous to me!

I also like this block so much because it kind of reminds me of my family (not that I can skate--heavens, no--I am hopeless on the ice!). But, when I was growing up, there were three girls and a boy in my family--exactly the same make up as the group of skaters and the tiny sleigh driver featured here. There's me on the right, the oldest of the bunch, probably yelling at my little brother to stop goofing off and making a mental note to tell my mom (when we got home) that he wasn't wearing his mittens! I'm afraid I'm a typical first-born child: organized, conscientious, and too much of a perfectionist. I'd love to be able to relax and not always have to be on time for things, or maybe break the rules now and then, but it's just not in my nature. We were talking about birth order at a family picnic over the weekend and I've been reading a lot about it since then. Two interesting sites I've come across that discuss common birth order traits are: here and here. How about you? Do you have the traits that are most common for your birth order? My guess is that because cross stitching is such an orderly craft with exact counting and stitching, that there are many first-borns who share the love of it...



I had the best time stitching LHN's "Stars and Stripes" as a surprise for one of my first blogging friends, Myra! I was even more excited when I read on her blog that she came home to find it waiting in her mailbox after a particularly hard week at work and that it really lifted her spirits. Isn't it amazing how a kind word or simple gift from a friend can have that effect? I hope to send more of these little gifts out to my blogging friends in the future--it was such fun!



"Stars and Stripes" was stitched on 16 ct. natural Heatherfield fabric with DMC and WDW threads. I did change the outer border color to be the same as the wording rather than the charted brown color. To finish it off into this little pin pillow, I backed it with some burgundy and red checked fabric, added a frayed bow of the same material, a tiny heart button, and trimmed it with some blue cording. I'm so glad you like it, Myra--I truly enjoyed making it for you :)

22 years ago today, my youngest son was born! We were living in the D.C. area at the time--right where he is living this summer and having the experience of a lifetime: interning at the Department of Justice. The week he was born, the weather was almost as unbearably hot as we've had this past week. And yes, in many ways he is a typical youngest child--funny, charming, and outgoing and maybe, just maybe--a "teeny" bit spoiled, but he has made us so proud and I want to wish him the happiest of birthdays! We miss him very much and can't wait to see him in a few weeks...

I was so excited to see comments from so many new readers last week! Thank you all so much for taking the time to say hello. I was able to visit many of your blogs and I loved adding new ones to the ever-growing list of stitching blogs that I follow. I hope you all have a most relaxing and stitch-filled weekend in a nice, cool spot...

Tiny finishes and big thanks

Hello all--hope you've had a great week!I had the urge to do some tiny stitching this week to offset my huge Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow piece. For my June ornament, I stitched the bottom quarter of the "O Christmas Tree" sampler from the Prairie Schooler Christmas Samplers chart (No. 63). I ended up stitching it over one to make it a better size for a Christmas ornament (and because I am an admitted "over one" addict!).









For this ornament, I used 28 ct. taupe cashel linen and DMC threads. I did end up substituting a couple of the colors--changed the cardinals to a brighter red (DMC 816) so they would more resemble the ones we see here in Pennsylvania in the winter and I changed the middle color on the trees to DMC 3363 because the charted color didn't offer enough contrast. Then I backed it with the fabric shown, topped it off with some sage green cording, attached a little bow and--voila! I'm very pleased with the final product...



My second tiny finish is from the Homespun Elegance "Miniature Samplers VI" chart. I changed many of the recommended overdyeds threads to similar colors I already owned. And because I stitched this little (it is just 1 1/4 inches x 1 3/4 inches) design "over one," too, there was no way the charted wording ("America the Beautiful") could be stitched and still be readable so I substituted it with some fireworks and added a little sheep.


Now, I am no artist--believe me, I can barely draw a stick figure, so if these don't look exactly like fireworks, try to use your imagination. (Now that I look at them, they resemble red and blue spiders!). I think that is one reason why I like cross stitching so much--because I feel artistic even though I'm not. I love the way the design appears on an empty piece of fabric almost like a painting. I stitched this tiny pin pillow on 26 ct. natural brown linen, filled it with crushed walnut shells, and added a bit of white ribbon and a red star button for accents. What do you think?




Stitchers are the nicest people and I recently received some wonderful things in the mail... Mary (no blog yet--but she's working on it!) and I became email friends when she sent me the sweetest note saying how much she enjoyed my blog. We hope to meet in person at some point because her son will be attending a nearby college in the fall. I was just so touched to receive this wonderful package of goodies from her. It contained all of my favorite designers: Prairie Schooler, Blackbird Designs, and Country Cottage Needleworks along with some floss. Most special of all, though, was the fact that Mary had read through my blog and discovered my love for black cats, especially my dear cat, Shadow, and she had picked out a special Permin kit featuring a little black cat waiting by a door. It brought tears to my eyes when I opened it... Thank you so, so much, Mary--I love everything and you are a wonderful new friend!



And from one of my very first blogging friends, Sue, I received this lovely La-D-Da Quaker Alphabet chart. Sue recently finished and framed this herself and kindly offered me the chart when she was done. It was her first Quaker and since I had never stitched one either I think she knew it would go to a good home. You know me, though, I'll have to use my favorite blues when I do stitch it. Check out Sue's blog for her amazing finish! It is perfection...Thank you so much, my friend. I will definitely pass along the chart to some other "new Quaker stitcher" when I am done!" Your gift means so much to me :)

Do you have a favorite flower? Mine, by far, are hydrangeas--I just adore them and this year, our bushes are absolutely bursting with the biggest blue blooms. In fact, they've never looked this good in the ten years we've had them planted! I'm assuming that it is due to all of the rain we've had this spring. Almost makes all of this horrid humidity bearable--almost... I don't know about you, but the older I get, the more the humidity gets to me. At this point I'm almost ready to move to San Diego where, I've heard, they have the most perfect weather. Do any of you live where there is no humidity? I just may be coming for a visit :)

I really enjoyed seeing all of your comments on my last post in regard to my question about whether or not you share your blog with others. I was very surprised to read how many of you are like me in that we tell only fellow stitchers or immediate family members about the fact that we have a blog. I just assumed the reason I didn't share it with people was because my shyness was coming through, but maybe it is just that I want to have a little corner of the world reserved for myself and others, like all of you, who share my passion for cross stitching...

Thank you all so much for taking the time to comment and email me each week. I treasure hearing from each of you and promise to catch up on my emails this weekend! Wishing you a wonderful last week in June (can you believe the year 2010 is almost half over?)...

Week Twenty-Seven: Land That I Love

HAPPY 4th of JULY! I couldn't resist stitching this Lizzie Kate design, "Land that I Love," to celebrate Independence Day. Don't you love the tiny gray sheep grazing in the field? I stitched this ornament on 32-count flax Belfast linen using Weeks Dye Works threads and a tiny star charm. The charm was originally a brass color, but I decided to paint it a pewter color to blend in better with the gray of the windows.








I also want to share another patriotic finish by Little House Needleworks called "America." I used 16 ct. Natural Heatherfield and DMC floss for this one and I would have to say that it's one of my favorite finishes. I've had this piece stitched for a while, but just got around to framing it this week. Hope you enjoy it and that you all have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend...